1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to information processing apparatuses, information processing methods, information processing programs, and mobile terminals suitably applied to electronic devices, such as, for example, mobile phones, personal handyphone systems (PHS), personal digital assistants (PDA), portable video game machines, and notebook or desktop personal computers (PC).
More particularly, the present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, an information processing program, and a mobile terminal capable of activating a desired application program and specifying desired information processing of the activated application program in accordance with the number of tap operations for tapping a housing and a tapped position of the housing.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-333355 (pp. 8-10, FIGS. 3 and 4) discloses a mobile information processing apparatus for reducing malfunctions caused by user operations applied from the outside of a main body to improve usability and applicability thereof.
The mobile information processing apparatus detects an operation for “shaking” a housing thereof with an acceleration sensor included therein. The mobile information processing apparatus activates an application program corresponding to a “direction (the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis directions)” that the housing is shaken and the “number of shake operations” and drives a vibrator to vibrate in a vibration pattern corresponding to the “shaking direction” and the “number of shake operations”. The vibration pattern of the vibrator allows users to confirm the shaking direction of the housing and the number of shake operations. Accordingly, the mobile information processing apparatus can reduce malfunctions.